Opportunity Youth: Disenfranchised Young People

Disconnected

Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16 to 24 Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA, P.L. 113-128) was enacted in July 2014, and superseded the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in July 2015 as the primary federal workforce law. WIOA enables the Secretary of Labor, in coordination with the Secretary of Education, to conduct a study examining the characteristics of eligible youth that result in such youth being significantly disconnected from education and workforce participation; the ways in which such youth could have greater opportunities for education attainment and obtaining employment; and the resources available to assist such youth in obtaining the skills, credentials, and work experience needed to become economically self-sufficient. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5), the omnibus law that provided federal funding for programs to encourage economic recovery, included provisions that pertained to disconnected youth. 10 Of the $1.2 billion appropriated for programs in the Workforce Investment Act, Congress extended the age through which youth were eligible for year-round activities (from age 21 to age 24) so that job training programs would be available for “young adults who have become disconnected from both education and the labor market.” In addition, the law made businesses that employ youth defined as “disconnected” eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). 11 The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-315), which reauthorized multiple programs under the Higher Education Act, did not include a definition of disconnected youth, but identified “disconnected students” as those who are limited English proficient, from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary education, students with disabilities, students who are homeless children and youths, and students who are in or aging out of foster care. The law made these students and “other disconnected students” (also not defined) eligible for programs authorized by HEA, including the TRIO programs, which provide college preparation and other services for low-income high school students who are the first in their families to attend college. 12 The next section provides an overview of the existing research of disconnected youth, and it is followed by the CRS analysis. Research on disconnected youth can provide context for Congress regarding the magnitude of the population and the challenges they face. (...continued) profit, business, industry, and labor organizations organizations), with a lead entity being a state, local, or tribal government entity. Per the FY2014 authorizing law, each pilot may not extend beyond September 30, 2018. The FY2015 authorizing law enables the P3 pilots to extend through September 30, 2019, and for agencies to use FY2015 funds for pilots that are funded with FY2014 appropriations. 10 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Rules, Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 1 - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 110 th Cong., 1 st sess., February 8, 2009, Joint Explanatory Statement Division A and Division B. 11 According to the law, a disconnected youth, for purposes of WOTC, is an individual certified as being between the ages 16 and 25 on the hiring date; not regularly attending any secondary, technical, or post-secondary school during the six-month period preceding the hiring date; not regularly employed during the six-month period preceding the hiring date; and not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of skills. Youth with low levels of formal education “may satisfy the requirement that an individual is not readily employable by reason of lacking a sufficient number of skills.” 12 For further information about the TRIO programs, see CRS Report R42724, The TRIO Programs: A Primer. Congressional Research Service 4

Disconnected Youth: A Look at 16 to 24 Year Olds Who Are Not Working or In School Overview of Research on Disconnected Youth CRS surveyed the social science literature from 1999 through 2014 on disconnected youth, and found 10 relevant studies. These studies were identified by searching social science periodicals, consulting the GAO team involved in the disconnected youth study, and reviewing works’ cited pages in a few of the studies. The ten studies were carried out by federal agencies or nongovernmental organizations. Below is a brief overview of the studies’ methodologies, definitions of the population, as well as findings. 13 This review does not evaluate the methodology or validity of studies on disconnected youth. Methodology and Number of Disconnected Youth Across the studies, estimates of the number of disconnected youth vary because of their methodology, the age range of youth, and the period of time examined. 14 Most of the studies were cross-sectional, meaning that they considered youth to be disconnected at a particular point in time—usually on a given day survey data were collected—or over a period of time, such as anytime during a previous year or the entire previous year. Some, however, were longitudinal, and tracked a youth’s connection to work and school over multiple years. The studies also used varying data sets, including the Current Population Survey, Decennial Census, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY, which includes a 1979 cohort and a 1997 cohort), American Community Survey (ACS), and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), among others. Most of the studies did not provide actual numbers of disconnected youth, and instead reported percentages. Percentages ranged from 7% to 20% of the youth population, depending on the ages of the youth and methodology. Among the few studies that provided estimates of the actual number, they found that about 1.4 million to nearly 7 million youth were disconnected. One oft-cited study found that on average, 5.2 million youth ages 16 to 24, or 16.4% of that age group, were not working or in school at a given point in time. 15 The studies counted youth as young as age 16 and as old as age 24, with ages in between (e.g., 16 to 19, 18 to 24). 16 Youth were considered disconnected for most of the studies if they met the 13 The studies are as follows: (1) Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count, 2013; (2) Clive R. Belfield, Henry M. Levin, and Rachel Rosen, The Economic Value of OpportunityYouth, Corporation for National and Community Service and White House Council for Community Solutions, 2012; (3) U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Condition of Education, 2007; (4) Thomas MaCurdy, Bryan Keating, and Sriniketh Suryasesha Nagavarapu; Profiling the Plight of Disconnected Youth in America Stanford University, for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, March 2006; (5) Peter Edelman, Harry J. Holzer, and Paul Offner; Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2006); (6) Congressional Budget Office, What is Happening to Youth Employment Rates?, 2004; (7) Susan Jekielek and Brett Brown, The Transition to Adulthood: Characteristics of Young Adults Ages 18 to 24 in America, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Population Reference Bureau, and Child Trends, 2003; (8) Andrew Sum et al., Left Behind in the Labor Market: Labor Market Problems of the Nation’s Out-of-School, Young Adult Populations, Northeastern University, Center for Labor Market Studies, 2003; (9) Michael Wald and Tia Martinez, Connected by 25: Improving the Life Chances of the Country’s Most Vulnerable 14-24 Year Olds, Stanford University, for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2003; and (10) Brett V. Brown and Carol Emig, ““Prevalence, Patterns, and Outcomes,” in America’s Disconnected Youth, Toward a Preventative Strategy, ed. Douglas J. Beharov (Washington, DC: AEI Press, 1999. 14 Some of the studies do not provide detailed information about the methodology used. 15 Andrew Sum et al., Left Behind in the Labor Market: Labor Market Problems of the Nation’s Out-of-School, Young Adult Populations, Northeastern University, Center for Labor Market Studies, 2003. (Hereinafter, Andrew Sum et al., Left Behind in the Labor Market: Labor Market Problems of the Nation’s Out-of-School, Young Adult Populations.) 16 A few studies, such as The Condition of Education (2007), by the Department of Education, and What is Happening to Youth Employment Rates? (2004), by the Congressional Budget Office, do not use the term “disconnected” but (continued...) Congressional Research Service 5